“Go ahead and take your break.”
Andrew nodded and swiped his hands along his coveralls again, wiping the grease and grime on the material. He didn’t really need a break, but Matt said he was required to give him one. Andrew stepped out of the shop and pulled out his pack of cigarettes as he threw his leg over his bike. He wasn’t going anywhere, but he sure did enjoy being on his bike. He exhaled a cloud of smoke and let the cigarette dangle in his mouth while he lowered his coveralls, letting the summer heat beat down on him.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing, geez, calm down.”
Andrew glanced to the side to see a couple exit a convertible BMW. It was a nice car but the man driving it didn’t look nice. He looked like most guys, Andrew thought. Nothing out of the ordinary, except of course the scowl on his face. The man glared at him as Andrew took another drag of his cigarette.
“What are you looking at, asshole?”
Andrew couldn’t help but grin. He wanted desperately to say something to the man, but he didn’t know him at all and in truth, why should he bother. Obviously the man had a chip on his shoulder. Andrew didn’t need any trouble with people. He had done a good job so far staying under the radar, no need to change that now.
“What’s so funny?”
Andrew shook his head. “Nothing man.”
Andrew dropped the remainder of the cigarette on the ground. He didn’t want a problem with this man and decided that the best tactic at this point was to go back inside. He pulled up his coveralls and buttoned it quickly, wanting to get away from this angry person. Unfortunately, as he stepped off his bike he found that the man was now standing directly in front of him with a venomous expression on his face.
“I don’t want any trouble,” Andrew said staring at him.
“Jimmy, come on, baby. Let’s go.”
The man named Jimmy grinned, flicking Andrew’s name patch on his coverall’s. He then turned; wrapping his arm around the girl he was with and strolled away like nothing had happened. Andrew shook his head and went back inside, happy that he had avoided an unnecessary conflict. After work, as he always did, he took a drive up towards Kern County Canyon. He stayed there until the sun set and then made his way home.
“How was your day, Andrew?’ Olivia asked while setting the table.
He gave her a small nod. “It was good.”
He decided that he didn’t want to tell her about the non-incident with the man named Jimmy. Nothing had really happened anyway so why worry her unnecessarily. He sat with Aaron and Olivia and made small talk throughout dinner. He knew that was something that his aunt liked and after all she and her husband had done for him, it was least he could do.
The following day proved to be anything but typical for Andrew. As he pulled up to the shop, he noticed that the convertible he had seen the day before was parked in front. He thought that odd since Matt generally didn’t work on cars like that, but he turned off his motorcycle and strode inside, figuring it was none of his business. He immediately went to his locker to grab his coveralls.
“Andrew, can you come in my office please,” he heard Matt shout down the hall.
Andrew furrowed his brows. He placed the coveralls back on the hook and shut the locker door. As he walked towards Matt’s office an awful feeling began to develop in the pit of his stomach. He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong and Matt consistently told him that he was one of his hardest workers, yet the tone of Matt’s voice had concerned him.
“Take a seat, Andrew,” Matt said as Andrew stepped inside the office.
Andrew saw that there was another man sitting as well, the same man who had tried to fight with him yesterday. The man, Jimmy, gave Andrew a disgusted look as Andrew sat beside him. He faced Matt who had a sad and discouraging look on his face. The pit in his stomach grew as deep as the Grand Canyon as Matt’s eyes moved from Andrew to Jimmy and then back to Andrew again. Something bad was definitely about to happen, Andrew was sure of it.
“It’s been brought to my attention the nature of your time in prison.”
“I told you I’d been in prison. You talked to my PO?” Andrew stated confused.
Matt looked at his entwined fingers and sighed before looking at him again. “Yes, I was aware of most of that. What I wasn’t aware of was that you were on the sex offender registry,” he glanced at Jimmy who had a smug look on his face. “That changes things a bit.”
“What do you mean?” Andrew could feel the heat rising within him.
“It means I have to let you go.”
“What?” Andrew stuttered.
“Did you really think that people would want to come in here knowing that one of its employees raped a kid,” Jimmy stated vehemently.
Andrew cringed slightly before regaining his composure. “I didn’t rape a kid.”
“The registry says you raped a minor, a minor is a kid in case you didn’t know,” Jimmy said self-righteously. “Hell, just being in the same room with you right now makes me want to vomit.”
Andrew stared at him. He had nothing to say that would help his cause in the slightest, so he turned back to face Matt. “I served my time, Matt and I’ve worked hard for you.”
“You have, Andrew and I’m very sorry that I have to do this,” he said sympathetically.
“Why should you be sorry,” Jimmy interjected with anger and venom. “This man,” he motioned his head in Andrew’s direction, “is a convicted rapist. He’s on the damn registry. If he stays here I will make sure the public is aware of what kind of employees you hire.”
“Mr. Bowers, there’s no need for threats.”
“I have not said anything to my father about this because I thought by coming to you that you would do the right thing,” he stated off handedly. “But if you want to cater to rapists then I’ll have no choice but to call him over here.”
Andrew watched as the blood drained form Matt’s face. Andrew didn’t know who Jimmy’s father was, but obviously it was someone that Matt was afraid of. Matt faced Andrew and this time his expression was hard, there was no sadness there. He was angry, whether it was aimed at Andrew or the other man in the room, he didn’t know but what he did know was that the sympathy he initially had was gone.
“Andrew, I will send you your last check. Please clear out your locker,” he said coolly.
Andrew nodded and stole one last glance at the man beside him. He sat there smug and victorious. Andrew didn’t know what he had done to warrant this man’s hate, but the feeling was now mutual. Andrew wished he could beat the smirk off of his face, but there was no way in hell that he was going to go to prison again. He pushed away from his chair and stormed over to his locker, grabbing the few personal items he had in there and then quickly exited the shop. He lit a cigarette the minute he stepped outside, trying to calm the fury building within him.
“You should really consider moving,” Jimmy said as he nudged passed Andrew to his vehicle. “After all, I’m sure that word will get around as to what kind of man you are.” He slid behind the wheel of his car and started it up, placing his sunglasses over his deceitful eyes. “I mean, who in the world would want to hire a sex offender?” he finished with a smile.
“Why would you do this?” Andrew asked quietly.
Jimmy grinned again, “Because I can.”
He backed away from Andrew and peeled out of the parking lot while Andrew watched him go. He couldn’t believe this was happening to him. He quickly straddled his bike and turned the key. Normally the roar of his Harley brought him joy, but this time around it didn’t. All he felt was anger. He drove to his favorite spot hoping that it would ease his mind but when he parked all he could do was shout at the top of his lungs.
“Why the fuck do I even I try?” he yelled into the cavern.
His hands tugged at his hair, pulling tightly, the pain grounding him to his surroundings. After pacing for what seemed like an hour, he finally dropped to the ground. His eyes filled with tea
rs. The peaceful and serene surroundings couldn’t soothe his restless soul as he wiped his eyes free of the tears.
“I should have known better,” he finally said standing up. “There are no new beginnings or second chances, not for someone like me.”
He breathed in deeply, settling his resolve. He drove back into town and when he arrived at his house he could see that both his aunt and uncle were home. He pocketed his keys and walked inside to the smell of garlic and tomatoes. He assumed she must be making spaghetti and in spite of his sour mood, he smiled, even if it was only for a moment.
“We didn’t expect you home so early, Andrew, but you’re just in time. Dinner is ready,” his aunt sang from the kitchen.
She came out to the living room wiping her hands on an apron attached to her waist. She stopped and the smile left her face when she saw Andrew leaning against the back of the sofa with his arms crossed.
“Is everything alright?”
He shook his head. “I got fired.”
“But you were doing so well.”
“Well, apparently they didn’t want a ‘sex offender’ working there,” he released his arms to use air quotes and then they were back in their defiant stance.
“How would they even know about that?”
His arms flexed as the anger coursed through him again. “Apparently some guy named Jimmy Bowers reported my status to Matt.”
“Andrew, I’m so sorry.”
She instinctually reached for him, throwing her arms around his shoulder and patted his back gently. His folded arms didn’t loosen one bit, in fact they tightened even more as if he were protecting himself. She knew she should probably let him go but she just couldn’t. She needed him to know that no matter what, she loved him.
“It’s going to be okay, Andrew. We’ll work something out. I promise,” she said before letting him go.
“Somehow I doubt that,” he said looking to the ground. He pushed off the couch causing her to step back. “I’m gonna jump in the shower. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Olivia nodded and watched him stride down the hallway with purpose. She hated that every time he took a few steps in the right the direction, something would happen to push him back and make him believe that nothing would ever work out for him. He just couldn’t seem to catch a break at all. She breathed in deeply as she walked back into the kitchen. She was determined to make sure that he knew he was special, in spite of the things he did in the past.
~*~
Over the next few months Andrew found that Jimmy was right, no one would hire him. He couldn’t get a mechanic’s job, which was what he was trained for and none of the other places he applied to had called him back. After a while he started to feel despondent again. He remembered feeling this way when he lived on the streets, as if he were all alone in the world. He itched to use again, if only to take away the empty feeling inside of him, but he wouldn’t do that. Every time he looked at his arm and saw the Phoenix, he remembered what Aaron said. He doubted that he could fly out of this if he ever went back to using. But, unfortunately, he was starting to believe that the way it was now was actually the best that it would ever be for him.
“Andrew,” Aaron said with a gentle tap on the door.
“Come in.”
Andrew would never understand why they felt the need to knock on his door when the door was wide open in the first place. In the past year of freedom, he had simply never gotten used to closing doors. Aaron stepped inside the room with his hands in his pocket. He was on summer break and was enjoying his leisure time.
“What’s up?” Andrew asked curiously.
“One of the staff at the school, his name’s Sam Thompson. Well he’s having some work done on his home over the summer. I put in a good word for you and he wants you over there tomorrow to start.”
“Does he know about my status?” Andrew asked hesitantly.
“Yes, he does, but he trusts me and my word that you are a hard worker. That’s enough for him.”
Andrew nodded. “Thank you, Aaron.”
Aaron smiled. “You’re welcome.”
Andrew would spend the rest of the month working on Mr. Thompson’s house. After the first job had been completed, which involved the retiling of two bathrooms, Mr. Thompson hired him to help with the rest of the repairs. Andrew replaced the shingles on the roof, did some painting and helped remodel the basement. Andrew worked hard for Mr. Thompson. He didn’t take breaks unless Mr. Thompson made him and he made sure that the work he did was perfect.
Over the next year, that became the new norm for Andrew. Aaron worked his magic and called in favors to get him hired for a lot of under the table jobs. Usually construction, Mr. Thompson’s rave recommendation helped in that endeavor, and when he wasn’t working on the small construction gigs he would be hired to repair people’s cars. It was a good system that allowed Andrew to feel like a contributing member of society, and also pay back what he owed for his motorcycle.
He was currently sitting at the kitchen table with Aaron and Olivia who insisted that they should always eat as a family whenever possible. Dinner was good but Andrew felt a little on edge. His aunt was all riled up and upset about something and that bothered Andrew a bit. In his experience when people were riled up, bad things tended to happen.
“How’s she handling it?” Aaron asked.
“She’s doing as good as can be expected. Her daughter left today, but I heard her asking the doctor about nursing homes.”
“Nursing homes? I wasn’t aware she was in that bad of shape that she required that kind of care.”
“She doesn’t,” Olivia fumed.
“Oh, I see.”
“Her daughter looked like some stuck up…” Olivia fumbled with her words.
Aaron touched her hand. “Olivia. You don’t know the situation. Perhaps there’s a reason why Jacqueline is behaving that way.”
“Aaron, do you know something about this?”
“No, not at all, but I do remember Jacqueline from high school. She was a bit younger than me but…” he paused and became reflective. “We don’t always know how events shape our lives.”
Olivia started to respond and then her hands flew to her mouth. “Is she the one you helped?”
He nodded. “Just give her the benefit of the doubt, Olivia.”
“I will and I’m sorry. I just… well, I love Grandma Downing. She’s the sweetest woman out there. You know she goes to bridge every week with me at the church. If I could take care of her I would.”
“I know you would, sweetheart.”
“I hate the thought that she might be sent away. That would kill her Aaron, she would die if she couldn’t take care of herself anymore,” she said almost in tears.
Aaron reached over and took her hand in his. “We have to trust that things will work out the way they’re supposed to.”
Andrew watched with apt fascination. He didn’t know who the person was that they were referring to, but obviously something was happening with her. It always amazed him how much Aaron and Olivia cared about people. Before he came to stay with them two years ago he assumed that everyone was shady and out to take from others. Now he knew that there were at least two people in the world that didn’t behave in this manner.
~*~
“I’ll be back, I’m going into town to get supplies,” Andrew said as he stepped out the door.
He wasn’t sure why he still gave his whereabouts to his aunt. She never asked for them at all. She trusted him. After all, he had been out for two years and had never tried to ‘take off’ so to speak. He had no desire to go anywhere but where he was right now. He quickly straddled his bike and headed into town, stopping at the auto repair store.
“Gonna be another hot one.”
Andrew nodded and paid for his supplies not really wanting to have a conversation with the man. As he stepped out of the store, he looked across the street and saw her. She was getting gas for her car. Her long dark hair flowed passed her shoulders.
He reflexively swallowed, taking in how perfect she looked in her tight fitting jeans. She glanced at the pump. Her hair flew to the side briefly, allowing him to catch just a fraction of her face for only a split-second, but then it was gone. She replaced the nozzle and within moments she was in her car and speeding out of the station.
“Who was that?” he thought out loud.
He shook his head to clear his brain of the woman and headed back to the house. Once there, he proceeded to give his motorcycle an oil change and tune up. He was thankful for the precision of the work because it kept his mind free from thoughts of the woman he had seen in town. The last thing he needed was to consider getting involved with anyone. That was definitely something that would be bad. When he finished, he headed inside to find Aaron and Olivia in the middle of a conversation.
“I haven’t met her yet but Grandma Downing is so excited. At bridge on Sunday it was all she could talk about. How her granddaughter was coming all the way from New York to stay with her.”
“I told you it would work out.”
Olivia laughed. “My optimist.”
“At your service,” he said with a bow.
She laughed again and then noticed Andrew. “Everything tip top with the bike?
He grinned. “Yes, I’m going to wash up before dinner.”
He could hear them conversing as he walked down the hall. He quickly stripped and got in the shower. As the water hit his body, his mind started to wander and for the first time in a long time his body began to respond, to desire. He hadn’t been aroused in a long time, but this woman he hadn’t even seen completely was making him stir.
“New York,” he hummed softly.
He didn’t know her name, but that didn’t matter right now as he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to be with her, to feel her body against his and to feel her hands on him, caressing him, pleasing him. His eyes pinched shut as his visuals of her reached their peak and he released for what felt like days. He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair.
Helios Beginnings (The Helios Chronicles #0.5) Page 12